All Aboard!

Pretty excited about my trip to Blizzcon this week. If not for the fact that it's Blizzcon, for the fact that it launches my cruise to Alaska as well. heheh.
Yeah for vacations.

Sadin, Taint, and I leave this Thursday for CAL-ee-forn-I-A. We're hoping to be able pick up our tickets Thursday night since we heard lines will be insanely long on Friday. Poor Felix can't go, he waited too long to buy his tickets....even after I warned him they would run out pretty quick.

And no, we will not be wearing any costumes. lol. Although the first year they had Blizzcon I really wanted to go and dress up as a NE druid. I guess I am kind of dressing up. I'm going as a human female.

Things I will be checking out if possible: The Machinima Contests, The Arena Global Finals, The Video Games Live concert.

I've uploaded my character onto their Blizzcon test realms as well as they said there will be new content to test out...what that is? Your guess is as good as mine.

In any case, it should be interesting just to be around that many other wow players at once. I'm going to wear my JAE t-shirt the first day and then my Green Linen T-Shirt the next. I thought about wearing my Epic T-shirt but I like my greeny better.

The Sunday after Blizzcon, we're hopping on a boat to Alaska for a week. So double the fun. I will be AFK for 11 days and go figure. I'm missing AV weekend this week! LOL.

WSVG FTL

So I watched the pitiful one hour coverage of the World Series of Video Games this morning on CBS. The Arena coverage they did was just as horrible as the rest of the entire program. Guitar Hero II with a three judge panel and Final Night Round 3, followed by WoW TBC Arena 3v3.

First, there was more coverage of the hosts spouting off retarded gaming tid bits and retarded Channel One anchorage type banter.

Most of you know how I feel about console games so I'm just gonna try not to offend those gamers and move straight to the Arena coverage.

First, they're going to have to do something about the user interface issue when showing this on tv. Nurfed UI plastered and scrolling combat text all over the screen, there was hardly any room left to actually view what was going on. Then the annoucers themselves... well. not sure if they even know what WoW is.

Team Pandemic (rogue, mage, holy priest) vs Team Insurrection (druid, warlock, mage)

Rogue catches the druid first but the druid gets off a cyclone and is able to get away. But the announcers are like "oh! looks like he cast a whirlwind!"

In the meantime, this allows Team Insurrection to try to focus fire the frost mage down...which to the tv guys they described it as "a barrage of volitile missiles"
...to which they don't even bother pointing out that the ice mage ice blocks early to negate the ice lance, frost bolts, water bolts and probably shadow burn raining down on him while his rogue is cc'd.

The whole coverage goes down hill from there. They show more edits of the players playing than the actual game play...and of course the announcers don't bother to talk about how Team Pandemic totally wins the fight due to their ability to kite and separate Team Insurrection to pick them off. They also fail to mention the retarded over-powerness of Cloak of Shadows. LOL.

hahaha.. okay. so professional video game coverage??? Probably gonna suck for awhile until actual people who game start to help produce the show.

If I wanted to watch a bunch of noobs prance around on the stage and call it gaming, I'd freaking go over to my neighbors 6 year old birthday party. (okay, I don't really have an 6 year old neighbor but you get my point)

LAME.

WoWcast Simpson-ized

LOL. Thanks Kitch for linking me the site.
I had fun with it for sure.

Here it is. JAE Simpson-ized! I did the best I could. We don't easily translate to Simpsonization. :D



Simpsonize yourself here http://simpsonizeme.com/

Druid Nostalgia

So I don't often go back to her, in fact, I haven't in months. But I logged my druid for some reason tonight, probably to see if I could trash some of her old gear for a few gold.

Sometimes over the months and now years, you forget the long @ss journey you have taken in this world. The adventures you had, the events that took place... lol. Like the first time we made these swift boots and used them to outrun higher level horde who were trying to gank us.


And then I found my trusty old Glowing Brightwood Staff! hahahaha. gosh. My first epic. Back then they didn't hand those darn epics out like they were candy like they do now. They were supreme prize possesions. Taint won the roll on the staff and while another mage we used to roll with wanted to buy it off of him, he was like "sorry, I'm giving this to my sister". :D


And then there were the odd items we used to think were so bad ass cuz resist gear was so rare too. I remember trying to stack fire resist like crazy for the chance that I might get to go on an MC run. LOL. good times.

Then there was the pimp hat.. oh yeah. The first time I found the pimp hat in the game I must have been like level 40ish. I remember a level 60 coming by and telling me the hat was really cool and asked where I got it. I felt totally cool at that point. Here was a level 60 saying something I, a mere level 40, was wearing was cool. hahahhaha.

Damn... it's been a long journey.

Blade's Edge Daily Quest

To start the Blade's Edge Daily quest chain, it requires 3-5 people to take down some elite bosses. You start by picking up the quest in lower city from the big ogre sitting across from the Lower City Quarter master.

Then you fly to Blade's Edge Arena and talk to the big ogre on the tower. He has you gather a skull, a chest, a warbanner, a book, and some relic off of five bosses. Four are in Blade's Edge Mountain and one is above Shat city. They're the big dudes who have snot coming out of their noses usually.

You don't actually have to kill the guys. You just need to loot the item that drops by their bodies once they die. So you can easily follow around a group doing this if you don't have a group yourself. Turn in all the items and you know you're done when all the ogres come out and have a beerfest for you.

Once you turn in the items you can begin your first daily quest in Blade's Edge. The first one is super easy and it's basically a simon says quest where you click buttons to repeat a color pattern. I'm telling you PvE is some seriously challenging stuff. :D

LOL. Anyhow. it's free gold so why not.

Facing your Ceiling

One of the hardest things to do when PvPing in WoW is to face your ceiling cap. It's terrible really because a part of you feels like you're just giving up. But I think everyone should be aware of their ceiling so they don't blame themselves so much.
Because at a certain point it won't be about your skill or what you do.. it will be about gear and class matrix.

And people shouldn't blame themselves for that. You do the best you can, have fun and move on to the next fight :) (and cry yourself to sleep at night when no one is looking) LOL.

eh.. SOL sometimes...whatcha gonna do?

And all ceilings can be broken with enough practice and dedication but I wouldn't sweat it. Just try to have fun in the process.

FYI, I think Arenas are a good indication of what classes most of the devs play. :)

I can't wait to hit Blizzcon so I can personally slap the people responsible for warlocks....and if I find the person who decided Cloak of Shadows was a brilliant idea.... LOL.

100 Falling Stars

Well, my 5v5 started off at 1810 tonight and we plummeted 100 points. lol.
We run an absolutely poor matrix as I have been saying over and over again. It's sad really but the truth is that you don't have to be good at PvP for Arenas if you run a strong matrix but you have to be amazing if you don't.

Warrior/Warrior/Shammy/Mage/Pally

You could fit 3 year olds behind that matrix and call it a day. But there's not much you can do honestly because of the sheer imbalance of class matrixes you have to face when doing Arenas.

Resto Druid/Any Hunter/Shadow Priest <===== LOOOOOSERS

hahahaha.. Seriously, if those three clases don't have a strong team to carry them, they won't go anywhere. I'm talking 5v5 of course. All three of those are amazingly fleshy and usually carry a big bulleye over their foehead.

I have no idea if Blizzard ever intends to address the imbalance or if it will simply be se la vi! which it very well could be...

And while I could go reroll a paladin, I think I'll simply wait for August 3, for Enemy Territory Quake Wars. I've been waiting for this game to come out for 2 years now and it's finally here! .......ugh...

okay, I just re-checked the site....it's been pushed back yet another month to September! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! damn it!

okay...but I'm still not rollin' a pally. :P

I fear the brown dog

Back from last season, there was this lock named Browndog. He was demo. 12,500HP unbuffed, with [Spyglass of the Hidden Fleet] and improved healthstone. The dude was a freaking tank. All four dps in our party could not even put a dent into that mofo.

This season, the punk is an affliction lock and you would think that this would somehow effect his ability to soak damage right? HELL NO. The guy is still a freaking tank, a damage sponge.

Taint and I did 2v2 all tonight and we kept going up against Browndog and a shadowpriest. His main 2v2 team is rated 2200 (rank 3 in the armory as of two days ago) but for some reason he was playing with this new shadow priest instead of the resto shammy he normally rolls with. Maybe a mercy team?

Anyhow, we kept running up against the damn monster and we finally started to kill the bastard. I'd open with silence, dot, mind blast and flay, then fear him. If all of those things went off smoothly and Taint was able to counterspell the priest and sheep him, it took EVERY ounce of our dps to take him down. He'd be at like 10% health but wouldn't budge. I think out of 7 games against those guys, we won 3. So not too bad. There were times when the silence and fear would be resisted and then it was gg...shadowburn see ya later!

He goes in the Warlock Hall of Fame for me. I fear the Browndog. It's like putting up a kid's minor league football 10 year old QB against a freaking NFL 300lb linebacker or something. You're like "GULP!"

hahahhaa. but it was nice to finally beat the bastard :)

Episode 28 Supplement

(Alliance in BGs)

Photosynth Demo:



KID Crying like a ninny:

http://view.break.com/315181 - Watch more free videos

Edit added:Blizzcon Murloc suite:
(ah hell yeah!)


Hyper-linking consciousness:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_transfer
"Another theoretically possible method of mind uploading from organic to inorganic medium, related to the idea described above of replacing neurons one at a time while consciousness remained intact, would be a much less precise but much more feasible (in terms of technology currently known to be physically possible) process of "cyborging". Once a given person's brain is mapped, it is replaced piece-by-piece with computer devices which perform the exact same function as the regions preceding them, after which the patient is allowed to regain consciousness and validate that there has not been some radical upheaval within his own subjective experience of reality."

Video Games Live:
http://www.videogameslive.com

Global Arena Finals (Blizzcon baby!):
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/arena-tournament.xml

Jade Empire Soundtrack

Advent Rising Soundtrack

(for some reason, it's not updating on my i-tunes. I'm working on the issue.)
in the meantime: http://www.wowcast.net/download.html

Video Games Live Concert, Houston

(picture taken from videogameslive.com gallery from their New Haven, CT show)
(http://www.videogameslive.com/gallery/album38/n316037_31207394_8152)

This weekend, I went to the Video Games Live Concert in Houston, Texas. It was a really great show. The music was pretty much only from console games so I didn't actually know a lot of the music but Taint, Sadin, and Felix did.

The music was phenomenal and I'm glad I got exposure to some of the ones I hadn't heard of. My favorites by far were from Advent Rising, Jade Empires, and Final Fantasy 7. Very, very well composed fantasy game soundtracks. I'm very tempted to go find the Advent Rising soundtrack.

It's unlike any symphony I've ever been to! I posted the pic from their website of a previous show to emphasize the type of energy they allow the crowd to have which made the feeling of the show that much more dynamic.

If you still have shows coming to your area, I recommend trying to get tickets. More than anything, I think the producers of the show, Tommy Tallarico (MC) and Jack Wall (conductor) really carried the show with their enthusiasm and sincere love for the music they produce for the gaming industry. You could just tell how much they loved what they were doing and their musical scores speak for themselves.

Zanger Wallpaper

I call this one Fluzzy Wuzzy Lights Glittering Above the Violet Pond....hahahah or Zanger Wallpaper :D

Had to Be Done

So, I was standing by the AV emmisary and I spot a shadow priest with a wicked witch's hat on. I inspect him and notice he's inspecting me.

He whispers me "What's your HP?"

I tell him 10500 unbuffed. He says "nice" and then starts talking to me about the gear he's hoping to get soon.

I quickly tab out and look him up on the armory to see his Arena teams.
It turns out he's an avid PvP-er just like me (I don't socialize with much of the PvE folks hehehe).

So I start asking him about strats and he starts explaining some of the logistics behind certain dps cycles for melee vs casters.

I tell him I can't seem to take down a warrior or rogue. He says they are pretty easy, especially a warrior (Shield, dots, mindflay).

I'm like hmmmmm.. okay. I'll try it. So I set out to duel Sadin as I have before. I try my old strat where I put shadow word pain, shield up, come out of shadowform and try to kite and heal myself. He crushes me and he's still at half health.

So then I try the method the fellow shadowpriest taught me. And sure enough, I wtf pwn Sadin into the ground every time...well at least until he got pissed off and didn't want to duel anymore.

I was really excited. Now my list is down to two classes I can't yet conquer easily..rogues and demo locks.

1v1, shadow priest are supposedly the best. I'm trying to live up to that expectation.

Anyhow, the shadow priest asked me if I wanted to try out a dual shadow priest 2v2 team. At first I was hesitant as it sounded like suicide and plus, this guy was a total stranger to me.

But I was tempted to learn more and I felt he could help me really flush out my class pvp tactics more and he seemed nice.

So Monday, he and I got on vent for the first time together and tackled out 30% of games for him on my 2v2 team. It was awesome. He was really into strategy and experimenting with our classes. Trying different dps cycles and defensive tactics. And also, just awesome having another shadow priest to talk too... we suffer in our own unique way :D We went 7-3 which wasn't so bad for our first time together and for two of the fleshiest classes in the game.

And it is the first time in 2 and a half years of this game that I actually made a friend from the game by myself that is not related to the podcast. wow.

AV Baby

This weekend I was determined to get the [Talisman of the Alliance] which costs 23,000 honor.

So starting Friday, I farmed AV with my crew over and over and over again. I farmed so much that I was able to pick up an AV Battle Ram AND an AV Battle Standard and still finish off the weekend with 97 AV tokens. LOL.

And no, I don't bot. So that's solid games played.

We have a lot of fun running defense a lot. It's amazing what you can do if you train assist in BGs because the healers aren't usually coordinated to handle that kind of DPS.

Towards Sunday though we started running straight offense and Taint and I competed for highest DPS. He won barely every time. I'll tell you man, it's so not fair. Iceblock and guess who the agro drops too?? Yeah.. me! Shadowpriest pull agro like no tomorrow.

hehehe. Anyhow, I'm tired of BGs. So no more this week!

And yup, I got my trinket. Hello to 430 resilience :)

Also, during my BG adventures this weekend, I met someone really cool who I'll write about next. :D

She doesn't give up easily

Okay. so I did a lot better today. I was pretty skeptical of course but that's a pretty decent way to go in...

I put myself back out there and our team dynamic actually started working again and I didn't blow up within seconds.. I don't know if the teams just decided to not focus me or what...

We run two different combinations with a warrior, holy/disc priest, holy pally, with rotations from the shadow priest, demo lock, and hunter.

Then after my 5v5 team called it a night, we ran a 3v3 line up of a (felix)demo lock, my shadow priest, and a (shadowtaint)fire/frost mage.

At first it was hairy. We had to learn which targets to focus fire, which to mage CC, and which to lock CC.

After we got that down, we started to see some vast improvements. BUT what just cracks me up is everytime I looked up about 30 seconds into the fight, Taint and I are fighting for our lives..I look at Felix's lock and he's at full health and has most of his mana.. life drain and drain mana.. jeebus! DEMO locks are f*cking tanks!

I try to duel him 1v1. He sends his felguard to stun me and then it's yo-yo fear. I can't even get a dot off. The only time I even had a remote chance was when I resisted his fear.

I'm pretty excited about tomorrow's arena honor upgrade. I've done a lot of crap this weekend to improve my gear. I ran Shadowlabs like 10 times to get exhalted with Lower City and to get 50 spirit shards. With the exhalted rep, I bought a new weapon and got it enchanted [Gavel of Unearthed Secrets]. With the spirit shards, I bought the [Seal of the Exorcist]. Then I ran hour and hours of Eye of the Storm to get 15,300 honor for my [Veteran's Band of Dominance]. THEN, I farmed Sunfury Signets from the AH to get exhalted with Scryer for my shoulder enchant. When the honor flips tomorrow, I'll be able to get my angel wings [Merciless Satin Mantle] which will then get the scryer enchant, a [Solid Star of Elune] AND my hard farmed [Sublime Mystice Dawnstone] which should boost my stam by 22 and my resilience by 36!

PHEW! I started seeing some vast improvements with my new gear after the first few games yesterday but then it went down hill from there. My group just needs more practice or so that's what we're all theorizing. Both my 3v3 and 5v5 team are at 1707 rating. How weird huh?

My 2v2 can't get much play because the WoW gods have blessed us with like 10-12 minute que times. Who has time for that crap??

Anyhow, I can't wait to get my wings tomorrow!

I will survive!!!!....well at least for a few more seconds :D

F-

Is it just me or does it seem like Blizzard is trying to piss me off and get me to quit playing?

oh.. probably just me.

Here's the a copy of my chat log with a GM regarding some total PvE BS they need to fix. I in no way blame the GM at all. He/she was friendly and nice and to the point but the policy is bullsh*t. It's like they're not even trying anymore...and the fact that you waste your time in an instance and something goes wrong and they show no concern to make an effort to remedy it.....gah.. well. it just actually sums up what I feel about the state of PvE anyhow.

[16:08:34] [Rengawo] whispers: Greetings Alachya, this is Game Master Rengawo. I understand you are reporting a concern with not receiving two spirit shards. Do you have a moment to address this?
[16:09:06] To [Rengawo]: Yes. I was dead when the last boss dropped and didn't receive mine.
[16:09:33] [Rengawo] whispers: First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to report this to us today and apologize for any inconvenience Alachya. :)
[16:10:11] To [Rengawo]: It just happend again to my two party members. They were dead when the second boss just dropped and they did not recieve their 2 spirit shards either.
[16:10:26] [Rengawo] whispers: Regrettably we are unable to reimburse for these shards Alachya, my apologies. :(
[16:12:15] [Rengawo] whispers: If you would like to see this policy change I urge you to post a suggestion on the suggestion forums at http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com.
[16:12:43] [Rengawo] whispers: Our developers read every post to keep informed with their player's ideas and feelings. =)
[16:13:11] To [Rengawo]: ok. thanks
[16:13:21] [Rengawo] whispers: Most welcome Alachya. While I'm here, are there any other questions or concerns I may be able to assist with?
[16:13:30] To [Rengawo]: not at this time. thanks
[16:14:05] [Rengawo] whispers: Thank you for your cooperation and understanding of our policies Alachya. May your adventures be numerous and all your hits be criticals! *bows*
[16:14:15] [Rengawo] whispers: Before I go, I would like to let you know that we do appreciate customer feedback. If you would like to give yours, please e-mail wowgmfeedback-us@blizzard.com to do so.
[16:14:39] [Rengawo] whispers: At this time I will be closing your ticket. Thank you for your petition today. Enjoy your stay in the World of Warcraft and safe travels! *wave*

Pretty much after he/she directed me to the forums, I was so annoyed that I had to do everything in my power to NOT take out my frustration on the GM...hence my kirt polite responses back. Self control FTW :)

Which leads me to my total frustration with the game right now....CLASS IMBALANCE. I know, it's been around for ages...it's nothing new. But for god's sake, could they possibly make paladins and warriors anymore over powered? I'm talking PvP and arena based.

I'm going into these battles just getting my @ss torn up within seconds.. I mean seconds. I've read everything I can about survivability. I've read about strategies. I just don't know what to do anymore. Have you ever seen the dmg output from two warriors with a windfury totem up and bloodlust? If you have, you must be a plate wearer because it's honestly over before I can say "FUUUUUU*!"

Melee dps just keeps getting boosted and they keep nurfing priests.. so I have to wonder, is it even worth playing anymore because obviously Blizzard is trying to send me a message.

And I think the message goes like this: "HI, If you would like to play a priest, you can choose from two fun role-playing characters. The PvE healer who will always be secondary support with crappy mana effiency compared to the only REAL healer, the Paladin. OR if you fancy, you can partake in the PvP fun of being fodder."

Yeah. I had no one to vent to tonight so you guys get the earful and the brunt of my frustration. I'll probably ignore most of what I said tomorrow after I've slept a lot of it off...